Junemar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter finally meet while playing for their mother clubs in the PBA. Jerome Ascano

JUNE Mar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter look to steal the spotlight away
from their respective imports as they rekindle their old rivalry when
San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra collide on Wednesday in the PBA
Governors’ Cup at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

The gigantic matchup is set at 8 p.m. in their first meeting playing
for their respective pro ballclubs. The two Cebuanos first faced off in
April, when Slaughter suited up for the PBA All Stars and Fajardo saw
action for Gilas Pilipinas.

The longtime rivals were supposed to meet as early as the Philippine
Cup but Fajardo missed both meetings with Ginebra after suffering an MCL
sprain on his knee in the All-Filipino conference and a sprained ankle
in the Commissioner’s Cup.

The long wait is finally over and it seems nothing is going to stop
Fajardo — an MVP candidate, and Slaughter — a Rookie of the Year
candidate, from facing off this time.

They actually managed to meet in a tune-up match in the offseason before the season-ending conference.

Now, they meet officialy for the first time as their teams battle for
playoff positioning, with Slaughter trying to keep the third-running
Kings in the top four and Fajardo seeking to help the Beermen, tied with
Air21 and Rain or Shine in fourth spot, stay where they are.

Slaughter, though, is playing down his personal matchup with Fajardo
as his main focus is to help the Kings (4-2) avoid a losing streak as
they try to gain a share of second spot with idle San Mig Super Coffee.

“We made it a rule that we wouldn’t lose two in a row,” said
Slaughter, whose team absorbed only its second loss in six games with a
108-117 decision to Rain or Shine last Sunday. “These last three games
are very crucial for us and we are looking to gain ground in the top
four.”

It was only the second time the Kings allowed a team to score more
than 100 points this conference as they had limited their opponents to
just 80.2 points in their first five games before letting the Elasto
Painters score 117 points — 27 on fastbreaks and 23 off turnovers.

“The key is our defense again,” Kings star point guard LA Tenorio
said. “We can’t afford to give them easy baskets especially June Mar,
Reggie Williams, and Arwind Santos. We have to be more aggressive
defensively. Offensively, we need to be aggressive as well and lessen
our turnovers.”

The Beermen (4-3) are also coming off a 74-90 loss to Meralco where their defense left much to be desired.

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